A ROAD safety audit will be conducted into the Mitchell Highway at Dunkeld following a spate of recent crashes.
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Fourteen people have been hospitalised in four accidents over the past five months on the same stretch of road.
The most recent, a collision on the Dunkeld bridge on Monday afternoon at around 2pm, left three men hospitalised and the highway closed for hours.
Transport for NSW Centre for Road Safety general manager Marg Prendergast said crash cluster locations on all highways in the western region are reviewed every year.
“A road safety audit will be conducted in the coming months to identify opportunities to improve safety on the highway around Dunkeld,” she said.
Ms Prendergast said a safety review of the Mitchell Highway in 2010 resulted in $7.3 million of works in nearby areas.
“There was $1.1 million of work completed at Robin Hill, east of Dunkeld, in June 2014 to widen the road seven kilometres west of Bathurst through the Robin Hill curve,” she said.
“There was $6.2 million of work completed on Rocks Hill, west of Dunkeld, between December 2011 and June 2013 to widen the road, install a centre wire median and realign a curve.”
There have been 25 accidents at Dunkeld in the past 10 years, killing one person and injuring 23.
Bathurst police said driver error may have been a factor in Monday’s accident.
The accident, between a four-wheel drive and truck, left the 57-year-old truck driver with bilateral fractures to his kneecaps and lower limbs, while his 22-year-old passenger received a fractured left leg.
A 32-year-old man in the four-wheel drive received multiple arm fractures and chest injuries.
All three men were transported to Orange Hospital following the accident. The younger men have since been released, while the truck driver remains in hospital in a stable condition.
Chifley Local Area Command duty officer Inspector Colin Cracknell said initial investigations have revealed driver error may have been a factor.
“The driver of the four-wheel drive [headed east to Bathurst] appears to have crossed over the wrong side of the road and over-corrected,” he said.
“He hit the guardrail and [it] caused the car to spear in towards the truck.”
Inspector Cracknell said no one involved in the accident is facing charges.
Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to contact Bathurst police on 6332 8699 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
